Mutt's Little Secret
by BlackRose96
Summary: KTCS spoilers- Indy and Mutt get into an argument and Mutt runs off. Several hours later Indy finds him and discovers something he would have never imagined. rated T for references to child abuse.
1. The argument

Summary: Indy and Mutt get into an argument and Mutt runs off. Several hours later Indy finds him and discovers something he would have never imagined.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters unfortunately. I just own the plot /

Warning: references to child abuse.

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"You are going back to school and that's the end of it!" Henry 'Indiana' Jones Jr. yelled for at least the hundredth time that same hour.

"No. I. Am. Not!" seethed the 17 year old Henry 'Mutt' Jones III. They'd been back and forth with this for the past few hours. The older Jones demanding that his son go back to High School and the teenaged Jones refusing indignantly.

"I'm your father and what I say goes and I say you're going back to school!" Indiana had had enough of this. They'd had the same argument since they got back from their last adventure when Indy found out that he had a child. He'd been furious when he realized it had been HIS child, HIS son that had dropped out of high school. He was NOT going to let that happen.

"Ya know what daddy-o? I don't really care what you say. I'm not goin' back to school," Mutt answered back with finality, grabbing his jacket and heading towards the door.

Indy was just about to reprimand his son for talking back to him like that when he realized he was intending to leave.

"Where do you think you're going, Junior? This conversation isn't over!" Indy all but shouted as he walked towards his son who just ignored his father and kept on walking out the door.

"Don't worry your little college professor head about it," Mutt called over his shoulder as he straddled his motorcycle and kicked it into gear.

"It's below zero degrees out here! Get back inside so we can discuss this rationally," Indy tried in vain to persuade the 17 year old to come back inside.

Mutt just revved his bike and threw the motorcycle helmet that his parents always insisted on him wearing to the side in rebellion.

Indiana, realizing his son was about to leave and he didn't have much more time to stop him, started running towards his son's motorcycle and shouting at him to stop and come back inside, but his words were lost in the sound of the bike taking off as Mutt drove down the road and out of site.

"That kid's gonna get it when he gets home," Indiana seethed. Then after a few moments he sighed. "Aw man, Marion's gonna kill me…" he thought out load. Indy shook his head and walked back inside to finish grading all the papers he'd put off before the Christmas break was over.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Several hours later Dr. Jones looked up from the pile of school papers to look at the clock. It was nearing midnight and the kid still wasn't home. Truth be told he was starting to get a little worried. Under normal circumstances he'd just be royally pissed off, but it was the middle of January and below freezing outside. Not only that but the kid only had a leather jacket on and as far as Indiana knew, no cash. If he stayed out too long, Indy was afraid Mutt'd freeze to death.

He shuddered at the thought of him finding a frozen Mutt on the side of the road, still sitting on his beloved motorcycle.

Indy sighed again for what seemed like the millionth time.

_That kid is surely going to be the death of me._

"Indy?" came the soft voice of Marion. The older Jones stiffened at the sound. If she found out their son was out in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold with nothing to protect him from the winter's weather but a leather jacket and no cash, not even his motorcycle helmet, he was _sure _to be a dead man.

Marion walked around the couch Indiana was sitting on and stopped in front of him.

"Indy, do you know where Mutt is?" Indy stiffened at that. _Oh no. Here it comes._

Her husband's body language didn't go unnoticed by Marion. Her voice got a little sterner.

"I just went in his room to check on him and he wasn't there," she put her hands on her hips. "Where is he Jones?" She asked, glaring at her husband.

Indy winced. She only called him Jones when she was either angry at him or suspected he was at fault for something. In this case, it was both.

"Um…about that…" Indiana started slowly.

"Where is my son?!" Marion was getting angrier by the minute.

Indy looked at her sheepishly. "Well…you see…" he started, trying to figure out the right words to tell her how her son was basically MIA. He glanced up at his wife and immediately regretted seeing the murderous look on her face.

"We got into another fight about school and he got angry and ran off on his motorcycle nearly five hours ago and I haven't heard from him since," Indy said in a rush hoping that she'd take the news lightly.

No such luck.

"WHAT?!" Marion screeched. Indy winced.

"So you mean to tell me that my baby is out there somewhere in the cold probably freezing to death and you haven't even _bothered_ to go look for him?!" Marion was beyond angry now and Indiana was only too happy to oblige to go look for their son, even if all he really wanted to do was go to sleep. Grading papers wasn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world and the boredom of it always seemed to put him to sleep. But he also knew that if he didn't go out and find their son he wasn't going to have a goodnight's sleep anyways. Marion would see to that.

So would his conscience.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Indiana had been searching for hours for Mutt but to no avail. He had driven to all of his hang outs, his friends' houses, even some of his old girlfriends' places, but he found no sign of the teenage runaway. He was really starting to get worried now.

_I'm _really_ getting too old for this…_

"Now…if I was a teenager nowadays…where would I go…" Indy muttered. Then a thought struck him and he remembered a conversation he and the 17 year old had had not too long ago. They had been having an argument much like the one that they were having earlier that day.

_**FLASHBACK**_

"_You are going back to school and there's nothing you can do about it!" Indiana had yelled._

"_Oh yea?!" Mutt had tried to argue._

"_Yea!" Indy had retorted back._

"_Well then..I…I'll…" Mutt stuttered, trying to think of something to say to change his father's mind._

"_You'll what?" The older of the two challenged with a smirk._

"_I'll…I'll run away! I'll take a bus to somewhere where you'll never find me and never come back!"_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Indy _really_ hoped he was just bluffing. But living with the kid and learning more about his son every day made him believe it was just a bluff less and less. Boy, his kid was really going to get it when he found him.

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Alrighty. First time i've written in a while so bare with me. Next chapter should be up soon! Enjoy! )


	2. The Secret

Summary: Indy and Mutt get into an argument and Mutt runs off. Several hours later Indy finds him and discovers something he would have never imagined.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters unfortunately. I just own the plot /

Warning: references to child abuse.

* * *

It took Indy 2 hours and 34 minutes to find his son and by the looks of the state he was in, he wished he'd found him sooner.

A surge of relief and concern washed over him. Relief that he had found his son and concern for him because he looked like hell.

Indiana had searched every train and bus station within a 30 mile radius of his home. When he found Mutt, he was on a worn out bus stop bench with his coat zipped up, arms wrapped around himself, and shivering. As Indy got a closer look, he also realized his son looked slightly paler than usual and his lips were blue. He seemed to have a glazed over look in his eyes as well.

_No doubt his body's gone numb from the cold. Stupid, irresponsible kid!_

As he approached the younger of the two, all of his anger come rushing back. He was oh so ready to tell the teenager exactly what was on his mind.

At the sound of his father's footsteps, Mutt looked up from the spot on the snow covered street he had been staring at for the past hour or so. He didn't know his father all that well, but he knew that look on his face. His father was about to start yelling at him, more than likely to tell him about how irresponsible and immature it was of him to just take off like that.

He stared blankly up at his father, images from his childhood flashing back in his dazed state. Mutt's heartbeat started to pick up.

Indiana walked towards Mutt with an angry look of determination on his face.

**Collin Williams strode towards a 3 year old Mutt, a look of pure fury on his face.**

Indy stopped in front of the teenager. He started yelling, ranting about how stupid it was for him to just take off like that in the dead of winter.

**Collin was screaming at a 4 year old Mutt, his face red with anger. He was yelling about how stupid Mutt was, how he'd never amount to anything in life. How, even if he did his best, he would always fail; in school and in life.**

Indiana stopped his rant and looked at the 17 year old's glazed over look. Growing angrier, Indy started shouting, asking if Mutt was even listening.

**Collin was again hollering at Mutt. When playing with the dog, the 5 year old had accidentally bumped into the kitchen table and spilt Collin's coffee. The boy was apologizing profusely but it hadn't helped. Before he knew what happened, the child was on the ground, his hand holding his stinging cheek from where his step father had just smacked him. He winced when he saw his hand pull back for another hit.**

Indy was on his last nerve. No matter what he did, it didn't seem like the boy was listening at all. "Now you listen here, Junior!" he exclaimed and raised his finger at his son for emphasis.

Mutt's eyes grew wide and he flinched away from his father. It didn't register to his numb mind that his father was just pointing at him in his fury. All the teenager saw was the hand of the man who was screaming in rage at him fly. His automatic reaction to all the years of abuse was to flinch away; flinch away from the pain.

Indy froze at the look of pure terror in his son's eyes. He couldn't for the life of him think of a reason as to why he would react in such a way.

"Hey…Junior…" Indy walked slowly towards the 17 year old, but all he seemed to do was crawl farther away from him, the look of fear still in his eyes.

Mutt hadn't registered that this was his father, his _real_ father. This was Henry Jones Jr., not Collin Williams. This was the man that had never physically, nor emotionally, hurt him; the one who actually showed he cared. But all Mutt saw were the images, the rage. He couldn't make out the difference between the two men, or even the settings, because of the cold.

"Junior…" Indiana was still trying to figure out what was wrong with his son.

"Mutt…Mutt it's ok. It's just me. It's Indiana. It's the 'Old man.' Come on kid. Snap out of it," he tried. Nothing seemed to be working.

He sighed. _What would Dad do…?_

The only time he ever remembered Henry Jones Senior comforting him was when his mother died. He had blamed his father for never giving her enough attention, for always being consumed by his work. He had yelled, he had blamed his father, and he had cried. He cried and screamed and his father grabbed him; grabbed him and held him and let him cry.

That had been his first instinct when he saw the fear in his son's eyes; to just hold him. He had no idea what else he could do so he figured hey, why not just give in to his instincts?

Indy didn't want to scare him further, so he advanced on the younger Jones slowly, but it didn't stop the younger of the two from backing up even farther.

Mutt had run out of bench to scoot away on and was now leaning against the arm of the bench, pushing himself as far into it as humanly possible.

Indy sat on the bench and put his arms out in an attempt to show Mutt that he wasn't there to hurt him. Gradually, Indy scooted closer to where the teenager was scrunched up in the corner between the bench and the arm rest, though he froze when he heard Mutt whimper at the close proximity.

Indiana's heart dropped at what he saw in front of him. He saw his recently discovered 17 year old son, curled up in a ball on a bench, in the dead of winter, shivering from the cold, and glazed over wide eyes filled with fear…fear of him. That's what killed Indy the most.

His son…was afraid of him.

And he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the look in the 17 year old's eyes. Couldn't take knowing all the fear he was in.

Indy didn't think, he just reacted. He moved over to the other side of the bench near Mutt and gathered his son up in his arms.

Mutt yelled out at the sudden contact, not knowing what to expect. His body stiffened and he flinched away from the touch. Indy's heart broke even more.

"Jesus Mutt, it's only me. I'm not gonna hurt ya son. I swear to you I'm not. I promise you I will never, _ever_ hurt you. Or you're mother for that matter. Ok?" Indy said, while rubbing small circles on his sons back. He was at his wits end. All he could do was just spill his heart out. His heart was shattering just watching his son act the way he was.

Mutt slowly sobered up from the sound of his father's voice; so caring and full of love. He'd never heard that directed at him before. Well, not by a man at least. He'd heard it from his mother, sure. But the only father figure he'd truly ever had was Collin, and he received nothing but hurt from him.

"D-Dad?" Mutt muttered, his voice rough from the cold and misuse. All the yelling he'd done earlier that day hadn't helped much either.

Indy sighed in relief. He rubbed up and down his teen's arm affectionately. "Yea son, it's me," he said, burying his face in his son's hair.

"D-D-Dad…I'm s-s-s-sorry…I…" he stuttered. Being out in the cold for so long made his teeth chatter.

"Shh son. It's ok. Let's just get you home, ok?"

All Mutt could do was nod. Indy held him as they walked to the car.

After about 15 minutes of driving, Indy pulled off to the side of the road. Mutt looked at him in confusion. He had stopped shivering about 5 minutes before thanks to the heater in the car and Indy thought it would be a good time to discuss what had happened back at the bus stop, without the interference of Marion.

The last couple of hours were slightly hazy to Mutt because of the numbness, but he knew almost immediately what his father wanted to talk about. And quite frankly, he really wished he wouldn't.

"Mutt…about back there…"Indy started, not quite sure how to bring up the topic.

"Just forget about it," Mutt interrupted. He really, _really_ didn't want to talk about it. No one knew. No one ever found out, not even his mother. Sure she was always suspicious about the random bruises he would get but Collin always made up some lame excuse of how he'd fallen down the stairs or the dog did it or something. Mutt never said anything to make her think differently. It was better that way. He made her happy and that's all that matter.

Indy's temper flared at how rude his teenage son was being.

"Now look here Junior," he said, his voice stern, but he stopped short when he saw Mutt close his eyes and his body tense.

"Mutt…what's wrong…?" he asked. His voice was so soft and full of concern Mutt didn't know what to think. He didn't want to tell him. He didn't want his father to think any less of him than he already did.

There was a long moment of silence before Mutt spoke up.

"You'll think that I'm weak," he whispered.

Indy just looked at him incredulously. "Do you really think that whatever it could be would make me care about you less? Because if so, you are sadly mistaken."

Mutt just stared at him, wide eyed.

"Son, I'm your father. No matter what you do I will always be proud of you and I will _always_ love you, no matter what," Indy stated, ruffling the younger's hair.

Mutt just stared at the older man for what seemed like an eternity and unexpectedly threw his arms around his father's neck. "Thanks Dad," he whispered, sniffling as tears sprang to his eyes.

Indiana was caught off guard, but soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.

Mutt started shaking in his father's arms and Indy didn't know what to do, didn't know what was wrong, so he just pulled him closer to his chest and let him deal with his emotions first.

He had tried. He had tried with all his might but he couldn't hold the tears back any longer. All the memories from his childhood came rushing back and he just couldn't take it anymore. So he cried. Cried in his father's arms for the first time in his life, and he was glad when his father held him closer instead of pushing him away with disgust like he thought he would.

After a few more moments Mutt was able to take deep breaths and calm down, but he didn't leave his father's arms.

"He used to hit me," he muttered, burying his face deeper into his father's chest. Indiana Jones stiffened at the words. At first he didn't understand, but as the words sunk in it all began to make sense. He didn't have to say who, Indy knew. All of Mutt's actions before at the bus stop with all the fear, and even before that with all of his reluctance to accept he had a father all fit into place like the pieces of a puzzle.

Indy felt the anger pulsate throughout his body, making his blood boil. He would pay; Collin Williams would pay for touching his boy, if he were still alive that is.

_That sunuvabitch is lucky he's dead._

Indy stopped his mental ranting as he heard his son start to speak again.

Mutt told him. He told him everything, from the first time Collin yelled at him to the first time Collin hit him and beyond. He told his father why he thought it didn't matter if he went to school or not because Collin was right when he said that even if he tried his best he would always fail; in school and in life. Even told him how one time his step father tried to touch him when he was 7, but his mom came home just in time for Collin to make it look like nothing was going on. How his mom never knew about it, even to this day.

Mutt spilled his guts out to his father that night, and Indy did nothing but hold him tight. He promised Mutt that he would _never_ let anything happen to him like that again, and told him how lucky Collin was to be dead because he would surly wish to be when Indy was through with him. Mutt chuckled at that and Indiana was glad to know that his 17 year old, teenage Mutt of a son was still in there somewhere.

They both pulled away after some time and Indy started driving back home again when Mutt was ready.

Then Mutt remembered something.

"Hey wait! We left my bike back at the bus stop!" Mutt exclaimed while turning around and looking out the back window. Indy just chuckled.

"Oh I know," he said with a smirk.

Mutt turned and glared at the older man. "And what's that smirk for, Daddy-O?"

"Oh nothing…just surprised it took you this long to figure it out," he grinned.

Mutt just glared.

Indy sighed. Boy he had sighed a lot that day. "We'll go back and get it in the morning, ok kid?"

Mutt turned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Whatever you say Pops," he smirked. Indy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Whatever you say…"

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Well, i hope you guys enjoyed the story! I tried to end it in a lighter mood with kinda how they normally are together. hope you liked it )


	3. Family

**Well, i just got back from a trip to China and while over there i had gotten an idea for this chapter and had written it while in one of the airports. So many people had given me reviews saying i should add another chapter, and so here it is. it's pretty short, but there really wasn't much i could add without it seeming like i was just rambling on. it's kinda just a short and sweet ending.**

**hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately own absolutly nothing.**

* * *

Marion slowly sank to the couch with a dazed look on her face.

When the boys had gotten home she demanded they tell her where they had been, what took so long, if they were ok; drilling them with questions.

Henry Jones Jr. had looked at his son with an expression as if to say it's alright to tell her, everything would be ok.

And so Mutt proceeded to hesitantly explain to his mother the secrets of his past.

Both Jones men stared at Marion, watching as several different emotions flickered across her face.

There was a long pause of silence as they waited for the shock to wear off.

The next thing Mutt knew, he was engulfed in his mother's arms.

"I'm so sorry Henry," she sobbed into his hair. Mutt just buried his head in the crook of her neck.

Indiana, watching the exchange between his family, knelt down beside the couch and wrapped his arms around them both.

With both of his parents' arms around him, his _real_ parents, Mutt finally felt like everything would be ok.

It would take a while, and probably quite a few more arguments on the way, but they could, _would_, be a family. Mutt wasn't about to let his father walk out on them again, not if he had anything to say about it.

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**Well, that's about it. If you guys have any ideas of what else i could add, let me know and i might re-write this chapter and add some stuff (i'll of course give you credit).**

**also, if anyone has any ideas of other stories i could write, let me know. I'm pretty bored and don't really have any ideas for other stories. **

**Hope you guys liked this story! **

**Bye Bye for now! **


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